Basket-ball-goal indicator



March 18, 1924. 1,487,265

A. R. REESE BASKET BALL GOAL INDICATOR Filed June" 21. 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 --z a P a a J 2 F 5- i Aff,

A TTORNEY.

March 18, 1924. 1,487,265 A. R. REESE BASKET BALL GOAL mnmwon Filed June' 21, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 2' A TTORNE Y.

BASKET BALL GOAL INDICATOR Filed June' 21. 1922 34 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

March 18 1924. 1,48 7,265

A. R. REESE BASKET BALL GOAL INDICATOR Filed June 21. 1922 4 Shets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. A5. 5665? A TTORNEY.

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atent Mar. 18,1924.

ALLYN R. REESE, OF DENVER, CDEORADK).

BA$KET-BALL.-GOAL INDICATOR.

Application filed June 21, 1922. Serial Ho. 589,8t8.

Toallwko'm it may concern:

Be it known that l, ALLYN R REESE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Denver, in the county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Basket-Ball-Goal indicators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to basket ball goals and its prima object is to provide in association with a asket of the type used in the game of basket ball, an indicatory appli-' ance which either visually or audibly gives notice of the fact that the ball has passed through the basket and a goal is made.

My improvements relate particularly to apparatus of the character shown and described in the reissue application No. 538,- 119'of United States Patent No. 1,381,466, filed on the twentieth day of February, 1922, and it is a further object of the present invention to provide in an indicatory appli ance, for basket ball goals, a mechanism which transmits the movement of a lever extending in the path of the ball through the basket, to an operating member of the indicating element; still. other objects of the invention reside in the formation of a basket which guides the ball to a central point thereof, in the provision of simple means for rendering the indicating appliance inoperative in case its service is not required, in providing a device to prevent the operation of the indicator should the ball after actuating the lever in the basket, fail to pass through the opening at the lower end thereof, and in details of construction and a novel and practical arrangement of parts, all of which will fully appear in the course of the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

n the drawings in the several views of -which corresponding parts are similarly operation sounds the gong, in its raised position;

Figure 5, an enlarged plan view of the hammer element looking in the direction of the arrow B, Figure 3;

- Figure 6, a vertical section through the 2 frame, the indicating mechanism mounted thereon, and the lower support at the basket, taken on the line 6-6, Figure 3, the

arts of the mechanism having been shown in their normal. condition of rest;

Figure 7, an enlarged view of the upper portions of the parts of the mechanism as shown in Figure 5;

Figure 8, a fragmentary section in the same plane as that of Figure 5 but drawn to a larger scale, showing the parts of the mechanism in the position they occupy after the ball has struck the lever extending in the basket;

' Figure 9, an elevation of the goal showing the operation of the device which re-. strains actuation of the indicating appliance in case the ball fails to pass through the lower end of the basket;

Figure 10, an enlarged section taken on the line 10, Figure 2;

Figure 11, a detail view of a modification of the spring catch of the operating mechanism; and

Figure 12, a fragmentary section showing a plan view of the weighted portion of the operating lever.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the reference character 2 designates a metal bracket by which the lower part of the basket and the indicatory appliance are mounted on a wall or other upright suport.

P The bracket comprises a body member 3 having rearwardly extending arms 4 provided with apertures in their an ularly bentextremities for the passage 0 the nails,

screws or bolts by which the structure is fastened to its support.

The frame has at its lower portion, forwardly rojecting apertured lugs 5 to which is bolted in a horizontal positiomthe lower one of two annular members 6 and 7 which conjointly form the rigid frame of the hasket.

The upper member 7 of the basket frame is fastened to the support above and indendent of the bracket structure 2, and it is braced by rods 8 which are fastened to the supportat lower points.

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The lower member 6 of the basket frame, is angular in cross section to'provide an abutment for an annular member of the operating lever of the indicating appliance, which will hereinafter be more fully described, and it is braced by rods 9 which connect its sides at diametrically opposite points with the bolts or other fastening devices by means of which the upper arms of the bracket are attached to the support.

The basket proper is composed of a number of leather straps 10 which are fastened to the two ring-shaped members of the frame at substantially equal distances from each other, and which are interconnected by circular bands 12 and 13.

The lower one of these circular bands, disposed above the lower member of the rigid frame, is made of relatively small diameter so that the upright straps are drawn inwardly at the point at which it is connected therewith to form a comparatively narrow throat through which the ball must ass.

P The principal object of this construction of the basket is to prevent the ball from coming in contact with the metal parts thereof, which might cause it to rebound and fall outside the basket without passing throu h the lower end thereof, and which possilfiy might injure the soft leather with which the ball is covered.

The indicatory appliance herein'before r-" straps 2O detachably fastened to the ring 18 by buttons 21 or other suitable means, and stretched across the same, provides a slightly resilient net with which the ball engages as it passes through the basket. It will be evident that the lever thus constructed serves as a trap-door which is held yieldingly in its normal position by its counterweight and is moved downwardly by the impact of the ball when it is tossed into the upper end of the basket.

The lever thus moved from its obstructive position, allows the ball to pass through the lower end of the. basket and by its return movement under the influenceof its counter weight, causes the gong to be sounded through the instrumentality of a mechanism, the construction of which will now be described.

A hammer 22 adapted to strike the gong by a downward movement, is pivoted on the bracket, as at 23, co-axially with a carrierarm 24 which in the operation of the mechanism, functions to lift the arm to an elevated position and causes it to sound the gong when subsequently released.

The carrier-arm is normally held in contact with a seat 25 on the bracket by a spring 26 which is coiled around the collar by which the arm is mounted on the ivot pin upon which both the arm and the ammer are supported.

A spiral spring 27 connects the free ends of the arm and hammer, and a stop 28 on the arm limits the upward movement of the hammer by the contraction of this spring. 4 A lug 29 on the carrier arm is in the operation of the mechanism engaged by the upper end of a lifter bar 30 which moves in aguide loop 31 on the bracket, in pivotal connection with the weighted arm of the operating lever.

The upper end f the lifter bar is bifurcated and stradles a plate 32 which forms the upper transverse art of the bracket. The finger 33 of the bifurcation, at the inner side of the plate, is that which engages the lug on the hammer-carrier, as stated hereinbefore, and the other finger 34 extending at the outside of the plate, has at its extremity an inturned point 35 which in practice rides across the plate.

A beveled protuberance 36 formed on the plate in the path of the point on the lifter ar, serves to impart a lateral movement to the bar 30 during certain riods of its reciprocating motion, as wil hereinafter be explained, and a U-shaped spring-catch 37 fastened at the front of the cross-plate and curving around the lower edge thereof, engages with the inner finger of the lifter bar so as to yieldingly maintain the outer finger of the same, in contact with the plate.

The upper end of the free arm of the sprin curves outwardly over the correspon ing end of the finger and into the ath of the lug 29 on the hammer-carrier, w ich is beveled at its upper side to permit of its passing the spring during its upward movement.

'In order to prevent excessive deflection of the free part of the spring and to hold the same against lateral displacement, the spring catch may be constructed as shown in Figure 11. The free part of the Spring of the catch extending at the inner side of the cross-plate of the bracket is, in the modification, shortened and a strip. 38 of more rigid metal is fastened at the end thereof displacement.

and thereby restrain said part from lateral In the operation of the invention, a ball tossed into the open upper end of the basket, engages with the net-covered arm of the lever and. by its im act causes the same to move downwardl a" ut its fulcrum against" the resistance the counterweight which normally holds the lever in the position in which it obstructs the passage through the basket, by enga 'ement with the lower annular member of the basket frame.

The narrow throat of the basket, formed by the band 13, guides the ball to the center of the net work on the lever and prevents it from coming in contact with the rigid metal part 6 of the frame.

During the downward movement of the lever by the impact of the ball, the lifter bar is raised from the normal position, illustrated in Figures 6 and 7, in which theinturned point 35 at the end of its outer finger engages with the protuberance 36 on the cross-plate 32 and its other finger engages with the free part of the U-shaped spring catch and holds itunder tension.

The bar 30, by its upward movement, engages with the lug 29 on the carrier-arm! 24: and raises the same about its pivotal axis together with the hammer with which it is connected through the medium of the spring 27. j

The finger 34 of the lifter bar is during its upward movement disengaged from the protuberance 36 on the cross-plate with the result that the spring 37 is released to expand to the position shown in Figure 8 in which its out-curved extremity is in the path of the lug on the hammer-carrier.

When, after having been released by the ball passing through the basket, the lever returns to its original position under the in fiuence of its' counter weight, the spring catch retains the hammer element in its raised position until theouter finger-of the lifter bar re-engages the'protuberance and thereby retracts the catch from the lug on .the carrier.

The withdrawal of the spring leaves the carrier and the hammer free to move downwardly under the influence of the force of gravity and the torsion of the spring 26 and the impetus of the element thus imelled, is such that after the carrier arm has een brought to a stop by engagement with the seat 25 it normally engages, the hammer will continue its downward movement and strike the gong after which it is immediately retracted by the contraction of the spring 27 which connects it with the carrier.

The clear sounding of the gong as a result of the momentary impact of the hammer, announces to the players of the game that a goal has been made.

Inasmuch as the gong is not sounded until after the ball has passed through the hasket, all chance of dispute is obviated by the use of my invention and if, as for example during a practice game, the service of the indicatory appliance is not required, it is readily rendered inoperative by removall pfthe'het work which span} the ring of the ever.

In order to prevent sounding of the gong in case the ball after having actuated the lever, fails to pass through the lower end of the basket either by arebound or by an obstruction to its downward movement, I have provided a device which under such a condition will retain the lever in its lowered position and restrain it from active motion until after it has been engaged by the next ball tossed into the basket.

This device, which is best shown in Figure 9 of the drawings, consists of a rod 40 which is pivotally supported between lugs 41 at the front of the annular member of the basket structure and which is held in engagement with the underside of the netcovered arm of the lever by a torsional spring 42 shown in Figure 2.

The rod has at its free end, a fork 43 and if by a rebound or other cause, the ball fails to move t e lever to the full extent of its downward motion, this fork will upon the return movement of the lever engage with its s ring as shown in full linesin Figure'9, and

thus revent it from returning to its normal position and thereby sounding the gong.

If, while the lever is thus being held in an inoperative position, the ball is again tossed into the basket, its impact with the lowered arm of the lever will cause it to complete its downward stroke. The ball while passing through the basket throws the rod outwardly as indicated in broken lines in Figure 9, so that after the parts are released, the lever will have reassumed its normal position before the rod is moved into engagement with the underside thereof by the torsion of its spring.

Having-thus described my improved goal in the best and most practical form at pres ent knownto me, I desire it understood that many variations in the construction and ar rangement of its parts may be resorted to within the spirit. and scope of the invention as defined in the hereunto appended claims,

A visual indicatory instrument may for example, be employed auxiliary to or in the place of the gong which audibly announces the passage of the ball through the basket, or an electrical appliance may be substituted for the mechanism actuated by the movement of the lever, to sound the gong or operate any other indicating device that may be used, by the closing of a circuit. What ll claim and desire to secure by letters Patent is:

1. In a basket-ball goal, the combination with a basket, of a lever in the path of a ball passing through the basket, an indicatory device, mechanism for the operation of said device, and means for the actuationof said mechanism bymovement of the lever.

2. In a basket-ball goal, the combination with a basket, of a lever in the path of a ball passing through the basket, an indicatin device, mechanism adapted to operate said device after the lever as been moved by the passage of a ball through the basket, and means for the actuation of the mechanism by movement of the lever.

3. In a basket ball goal, the combination with a basket, of a counterweighted lever adapted to be moved by a ball passing through the basket, a gong, a hammer cooperating therewith, and mechanism for the actuation of the hammer by movement of the lever.

4. In a basket ball goal, the combination with a basket, of a counterweightedlever adapted to be moved by a ball passing through the basket, a gong, a hammer cooperating therewith, and mechanism for the actuation of the hammer by the return movement of the lever.

5. In a basket ball goal, the combination with a basket, of a counterweighted lever adapted to be moved by a ball passing through the basket, a gong, a pivoted hammer-element adapted to sound the gong, a lifter adapted to raise said element by downward motion of the lever, a catch ada ted to move automatically into the path 0 the hammer element to obstruct its return movement, and means co-operating with the lifter to retract the catch at a determinate point in the return movement of the lifter and thereby release the hammer element.

6. In a basket ball goal, the combination with a basket, of a counterweighted lever adapted to be moved by a ball, passing through the basket, a gon a pivoted hammer, a pivoted carrier a apted to en ge the same in its upward movement, a resi ient connection between the hammer and the carrier, a rest limiting the downward movement of the carrier, a lifter adapted to raise with a basket, of a counterweighted lever adapted to be moved by a ball passing through the basket, an alarm element, a lifter pivotally connected with the lever, and having a pair of fingers at its upper end, a hammer element adapted to be raised by the engagement of one of said fingers during upward movement of the lifter, a spring-catch adapted to move automatically into the path of the hammer element to obstruct its downward movement, and means co-operating with the other finger during downward movement of the lifter, to retract the catch by lateral motion of the lifter and thereby release the hammer element.

8. In a basket ball goal, the combination with a basket having a passage for the ball, of a lever, a flexible net on an arm of the lever, which in the normal position of the same obstructs the passage of the basket, an indicatory device, and means for the operation of said device by movement of the lever when the net thereon is engaged by a ball thrown into the basket.

9. In a basket ball goal, the combination with a-basket, of a lever extending across the opening thereof to be moved downwardly by a ball passing through the basket, an indicatory device, means for the operation of said device by a determinate movement of the lever, 'and a restraining device actuated by the ball inits movement through the basket, and adapted to interlock with the lever at a determinate point in its downward movement whereby to restrain its upward motion.

In testimony whereof signature.

.ALLYN R. REESE.

I have aflixed my 96 

